AUBURN UNIVERSITY – The Southeastern Raptor Center hosts educational, birds-in-flight raptor programs on Fridays before Auburn University home football games. Hawks, falcons and eagles will be free-flown from flight towers, enabling guests to see these raptors flying close.

“Football, Fans and Feathers” kicks off Sept. 14; other dates are Sept. 21, Oct. 5, 26 and Nov. 2, 9 and 16. Programs begin at 4 p.m. and take place in the 350-seat Edgar B. Carter Educational Amphitheater at 1350 Pratt-Carden Drive off Shug Jordan Parkway. For GPS, use 1350 Raptor Road.

Visitors learn about the residents of the Southeastern Raptor Center during these entertaining programs, which are open to the public. Admission is $5 each and registration is not required. Admission is $3 a person for school groups of 25 or more, and those groups should call (334) 844-6943 in advance. Children under three are admitted free.

Roadside signs mark the program’s location on the day of each show. Pratt-Carden Drive is located off Shug Jordan Parkway just north of the Wire Road intersection.

All birds used in the programs are permanent residents that are non-releasable due to prior injuries or human imprinting. The Southeastern Raptor Center is part of the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. The center’s mission is to rehabilitate injured or orphaned raptors, and to educate the public. For more information, go to http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/raptor.